Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick, voiced by Matt Stone, is one of the 4 main characters of South Park. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, he first appeared in the short films both entitled "The Spirit of Christmas" in 1992 and 1995. He is voiced by Mike Judge in the feature film "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" and Eric Stough in the episodes "The Jeffersons", "Lice Capades" and "Mysterion Rises". Kenny is most famous for dying in nearly every episode in the first five seasons of South Park. He is also easily recognizable for almost always wearing an orange parka (or just having his face hidden) that covers most of his face and muffles his speech. In the episode "Mysterion Rises", Kenny, who is revealed to be the superhero Mysterion, reveals that he has the power to never die and that he just wakes up in his bed after some time. He then claims that he is upset that his friends never express that they remember him dying. The character was taken off the show in the fifth season episode "Kenny Dies", but returned in the following season, at the end of "Red Sleigh Down" and has since been a regular character; however, he now only dies occasionally. In most of the episodes in the 10th and 11th seasons, he tends to recede into the background, though this tendency seems to have ended with the 11th season finale. Throughout the twelfth season, Kenny did not die once. Kenny died three times in total in Season 13, and five times in Season 14. First Appearance Early versions of the character first appeared in Parker and Stone's two pre-''South Park'' shorts, "The Spirit of Christmas" (1992 and 1995). In the first Spirit of Christmas short, the character resembling Kenny is unnamed, while the character resembling Cartman is named Kenny. The unnamed Kenny character also speaks unmuffled in the first short. Both of these characters get killed in the short. In the second Spirit of Christmas, a character with both Kenny's appearance and name appears and dies. Kenny's first South Park appearance within the series was alongside Kyle, Cartman and Stan in Cartman Gets An Anal Probe Character Inspiration Like many of South Park's characters, Kenny is based on a real person; in this case a childhood friend of Trey Parker's also named Kenny. In a 2000 interview Trey said that the real life Kenny was the poorest kid in the neighborhood and wore an orange parka that made it difficult for anyone to understand what he was saying. Trey also stated that real life Kenny would disappear from time to time causing the others to wonder if he had died. Characterization Appearance Kenny wears an orange snorkel parka, orange pants, and brown gloves. Almost all of the time, Kenny has his hood on so that only his eyes and (invisible) nose are seen. Underneath his hood, he has messy blond hair, which looks somewhat similar to that of Tweek Tweak, another character on the show. On occasion, usually when he is scared or crying, he will pull the strings on his hood to make it tighten, although he did this once after Cartman had farted in a confined space. In "South Park is Gay", Kenny has a parka that is light purple with a part of his hair coming out of the hood, black pants, and brown boots with a black stripe down them. Later in the episode, he buys another parka that is pink and fluffy. He is shown at times to have almost nothing on underneath his parka, as seen in the episodes "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000", the film, "Lil' Crime Stoppers", and "Lice Capades", though mostly he does have a white T-shirt on. Kenny is shown to have blue eyes in the episode "Starvin' Marvin", in which a mutant turkey pulls out his eye and in a close-up, a blue iris is momentarily visible. However, in an early draft for South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Kenny is described as having hazel eyes. In the film and "A Very Crappy Christmas", it is shown that Kenny sleeps in his underwear, making him the only one of the boys who does so, though it is implied that his family cannot afford them (Kyle, Cartman, Stan, and Butters all wear pajamas, and Tweek Tweak rarely sleeps and thus has no pajamas, except in "Child Abduction is Not Funny"). However, in other episodes, he is shown sleeping in his parka. It would seem that his parka was made from pieces of his bedroom curtains, because in the episode "Quintuplets 2000", when we see Kenny practicing opera singing, we see his curtains in the background. They are of orange material, and a huge part of one is missing. After South Park: BLU, he is unhooded in several episodes; however, in the episode "Super Best Friends", when Stan finds Kenny drowned to death in the pool, he has a bald fade due to every kid having shaved their heads earlier in the episode, making him indistinguishable from the others (minus Cartman). In "Margaritaville", when the boys are playing with squirrels, Kenny is shown wearing part of his "toga" (a bedcloth) over his face, mimicking how his parka covers his face. More parts of his face--and his hair--are still visible, such as in "W.T.F", when he is in his wrestling outfit, he wears headgear that covers most of his face; in the same episode, when playing his wresling alter-ego El Pollo Loco (a parody of Mexican wrestler Rey Mysterio), he wears a mask that also covers most of his face. In "The Losing Edge", he wears a baseball cap that covers up a little of his right eye and forehead (as well as a jersey with the number 13). In the original Christmas short, he looks generally the same, but he wears green mittens and has a red scarf. His mouth is visible and his voice is intelligible (it sounds a little like Craig's or Clyde's). He only has one line, though. A photo-realistic version of Kenny's appearance was produced as a police artist sketch for the episode "Free Willzyx", showing his nose. Voice Out of all the boys, Kenny has the highest voice pitch. His speech is muffled, so that it is often difficult to hear what he says, although closed captions sometimes verify his lines. In later episodes, his lines have become somewhat more intelligible. An example of this is in the episode "Chinpokomon", where he appears to say "Fuck you" to Cartman after he attempted to trade another Chinpokomon for Kenny's Penguin. He says the same thing to Kyle in "Chef Goes Nanners" upon being told he can't just have mints (which are really antacid tablets) for dinner. His unique muffled voice is accomplished by his voice actor Matt Stone, speaking into his cupped hand. He speaks clearly and without his hood in "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut", "The Jeffersons", "Lice Capades", and "Mysterion Rises" with proper, unmuffled lines. In "The Losing Edge", when he is seen in his baseball uniform, he is heard cheering when the team wins in the beginning of the episode. In "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000", when he is literally pulled out of his parka in an attempt to have one of his baby teeth pulled out, he lands completely nude in front of Cartman and is heard groaning. Kenny is shown without his hood in "Lil' Crime Stoppers", "The Losing Edge", "Good Times With Weapons", "Lice Capades", "The Jeffersons", "Super Best Friends", "Margaritaville", "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut", "W.T.F", "Pee", and "Sexual Healing". In the film, Kenny's voice unhooded is performed by Mike Judge, creator of "Beavis and Butt-head" and "King of the Hill". In "The Jeffersons" and "Lice Capades", Kenny's unmuffled voice was performed by Eric Stough, a former Director of Animation at South Park Studios and a now-producer of the show, making it sound more high-pitched than it did in the movie in the former, and in the latter deeper. In the original Christmas short, his mouth is visible and he has an unmuffled line ("Yeah!") which sounds slightly nasally (a bit like Craig or Clyde). Despite that his mouth is rarely shown and covered by his orange parka, he vomits in "Major Boobage" and his mouth is clearly seen, though it disappears when he finishes vomiting. In the episode "Pinkeye", when Kenny (as a zombie) attacks a lady giving the boys candy, you can see his mouth as he starts to eat her. Also in the episode "Fat Camp", when Kenny is paid to eat all kinds of disgusting things for money, you can clearly see his mouth as he eats a dissected Manatee spleen in class. He was revealed to be Mysterion, so in "The Coon", "Coon 2: Hindsight", "Mysterion Rises" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends", you can hear his voice clearly, though he disguises it with a deep tone. In one scene in "Mysterion Rises", Kenny's voice is heard unmuffled, provided by Eric Stough as listed in the end credits, and it sounds closer to South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut than the previous episodes. In "Coon vs. Coon & Friends" when Mysterion confronts Cartman, his voice wavers, although it is debatable whether he's dropped the disguise or has simply let his guard down partially due to emotional impact is unknown. Personality and impact "]]Kenny is the most sexually knowledgeable and experienced of the group. In earlier episodes, when an unknown term is introduced to Stan, Kyle and Cartman, Kenny will be called upon by his friends to clarify, although Kenny sometimes does not know the meaning of the term himself. His muffled responses are often met with laughter or further confusion. In "The Ring", upon finding out that his girlfriend Tammy Warner gave another boy a "B.J." (oral sex) in a T.G.I. Friday's parking lot, he pursued that wish throughout the episode and eventually got his wish, though he subsequently died of syphillis. In "Fat Camp ", he gave Howard Stern a "hummer" (also oral sex) for ten bucks while promoting his Krazy Kenny Show. His sexual knowledge may be gleaned from his parents, or from the pornography which Kenny possesses in "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants". He often performs disgusting acts for money, such as dissecting a Manatee and eating its spleen, then regurgitating it and eating it again ("Fat Camp"). He also drinks from Jimbo's gas tank in "Volcano". In "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" he creates a haiku: When you rub your dick You might find a discharge that Winds up on the floor Although he is something of a silent protagonist, Kenny still seems to be very empathetic when it comes to his friends. In "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?", he is quick to show worry about the prospect of Timmy going to Hell. In "Best Friends Forever", Kenny's will states that Cartman will receive his PSP because he feels sorry for him. Kenny also alludes to his many deaths and his friends' attitude towards them in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", when he gets angry at Stan for crying over Kyle's impending death and not recognizing Kenny's at all - this idea revisited in "Coon vs. Coon and Friends" when nobody realises he dies a lot. Kenny is ultimately revealed to be a heroic character in "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut", when he saves the world by sacrificing himself. Kenny is also shown to be very loyal to his friends, even when he is insulted or ridiculed. In the episode "Jewbilee", Kyle betrays Kenny by ratting him out to the elders. Afterwards, Kenny ends up saving everyone by sacrificing himself. In the early seasons, Cartman consistently insults Kenny for being poor and constantly reminds him how much he hates him. In "The Biggest Douche in the Universe" - in which Cartman is possessed by the late Kenny - Kenny is shown to be a fan of Rob Schneider. When Cartman refuses to watch Schneider, Kenny's soul keeps trying to get him to change the channel back. Kenny normally appears blank-faced as a result of his parka hood, but he does get emotional from time to time. In "Poor and Stupid" Kenny got mad enough at Cartman, who had been ruining NASCAR's reputation, to try and kill him with a sniper rifle. In "Coon vs. Coon and Friends" he comes very close to hitting Kyle when he says that not being able to die would be pretty cool (Kenny actually thinks it "fucking hurts"), then again later when Cartman fails to grasp the concept of being a hero. In "The Death of Eric Cartman", Kenny breaks down crying (similarly to how Clyde sometimes does) after Cartman eats all the skin out of a KFC bucket meal - afterwards, he joined Stan and Kyle, and eventually the whole of the 4th grade class, in ignoring Cartman - even though Cartman tried to redeem himself, their friendship never fully recovered. In the episode "Major Boobage", Kenny has had more lines and has played a bigger role; since then, "The Ring" and "Poor and Stupid" are episodes that have focused on Kenny since then. In "Mysterion Rises", he was also revealed to be the "secret identity" Mysterion, a child superhero that first appeared in "The Coon" (this means that technically, "Mysterion Rises" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends" have also focused on Kenny). Kenny is also known to have the most vile mouth in the group, as he mostly swears heavily in his dialogue. He also does not take any guff from Cartman - while he used to be Cartman's "underling", that role has been taken over by Butters. Kenny has many interests: in the episode "Pandemic", Kenny has an interest in Peruvian music; in "Poor and Stupid", he is shown to be a rather large fan of NASCAR racing, but is offended by Cartman's behavior throughout the episode regarding NASCAR, even going as far as to try and kill him. He is also a fan of monster trucks, as evidenced by a 4x4 poster of a monster truck hanging in his room on some occasions. He is also a righty, as he usually holds writing utensils in his right hand. Since the episode "Mysterion Rises", Kenny has become apathetic towards his inability to die. After so many deaths - both quick and painful - he views his demise as no more than an inconvenience - an excruciating and agonizing one, but still extremely annoying. His apathy even grew to the point where, rather than walk home from Cartman's house at the end of "Coon vs. Coon and Friends", he just shoots himself in the head so that he will appear there instantly. Criminal Record In some episodes Kenny is known to do some crimes on his own, but not very often. He has been arrested twice - once while trying to preform prostitution in his own show, Krazy Kenny, and once for becoming a vigilante as Mysterion, although he doesn't stay in prison for long since the town is full of idiots. Kenny's criminal record includes, but isn't limited to: *'Murder By Proxy': Kenny teams up with Cartman to have Sarah Jessica Parker murdered in "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs", resulting in her getting shot. They eventually shift the blame to Butters. *'Attempted Murder': In the episode "Poor and Stupid", Kenny attempts to kill Cartman at the NASCAR championships for ruining the sport's reputation - however, his sniper rifle got confiscated by a security guard upon entry. *'Vandalism': In "Toilet Paper", he along with Stan, Kyle, and Cartman TPed Mrs. Dreibel's house for revenge for making them stay after school after making an erect shaped penis sculpture in art class. * War Crimes: Kenny was employed by Cartman and joined his Drunken Southern Civil War, primarily to get women, after Cartman promised him that he'll have "many plunders and women". *'Assault': In the episode Major Boobage Kenny brutally attacked Cartman after he brought Kenny back from the hallucinations he was having from cheesing, and ruining his paradise with the Large-breasted Woman. In Cartman Joins NAMBLA, he nearly assualts his own mother with a plunger in attempt to get rid of the baby she's pregant with. *'Cannibalism': In Pinkeye, Kenny started taking bites out of anyone and everyone, turning them into zombies. Since he was a zombie himself, however, this would probably be forgivable. *'Kidnapping': In Cow Days, Kenny, along with Stan and Kyle, took Cartman from the hospital for the purpose of him entering the bull-riding contest at the rodeo. Cartman had not actually healed and thought he was a Vietnamese prostitute called Ming Lee. *'Violation of Firearm Laws': The sniper rifle Kenny carried is definitely illegal and unregistered. It was never explained how Kenny obtained the sniper rifle, but it is likely he obtained during the events of "Poor and Stupid" when he attempted to kill Cartman, after he ruined the NASCAR sport's reputation. * Breaking and Entering: In "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000", Kenny along with the boys broke into rich kid's houses to trick their parents into giving them money, and steal it off of them. Later in "Ginger Kids", along with Stan and Kyle, Kenny broke into Cartman's house to teach him a lesson. In "Major Boobage", he broke into Cartman's house again, to use the cats (in which Cartman are taking care of) and get high from their urine again. * Smoking/Cheesing: In "Butt Out" started smoking along with the boys to avoid being like Butt Out, Later in Major Boobage, Kenny became addicted to cheesing and when cats became illegal, he ignores the law and continues to get high. He eventually stopped, but began to get high again after smelling some strong flowers. * Arson: In "Butt Out" Kenny along with the boys threw their cigarettes into a nearby dumpster to prevent from getting caught by Mr. Mackey but later ignites and proceeds to burn the whole school down, In Pre-School, Kenny still kindergartener along with the boys were trying to play firemen, Kenny suggested that they should start a fire , they had their classmate Trent to start the fire and when they try to urinate out the fire it eventually got worse and burned the entire school down, but put the blame on Trent (this was considered arson). * Prostitution: In Fat Camp, while promoting the "Krazy Kenny Show", Kenny was in a competition with Tom Green and Johnny Knoxville to see who would give Howard Stern a "hummer" for the least amount of money. Kenny was willing to go for $10, which forced Knoxville and Green to submit, and he was eventually arrested and jailed for prostitution, forcing a lookalike to do the final stunt (and, as a result, die) on the show. *'Framing': In "Pre-School" Kenny along with the boys framed Trent for starting the fire (which he did), However Kenny, Stan, Kyle and Cartman are responsible for making the fire worse, which caused the school to burn down and gave Ms. Claridge severe burns. * Vigilantism: In The Coon (before his identity was revealed) he took the role of Mysterion. Later after defeating both Professor Chaos and General Disarray, with the help from the Coon (who was trying to get rid of Mysterion), Mysterion attempted to remove his mask since he can't risk putting people's lives in danger with every villain wondering who he is. After some deliberation, he reveals himself and gets arrested, much to the Coon's pleasure, despite people pleading with him not to. He reappeared as Mysterion again in Coon 2: Hindsight, Mysterion Rises (where his identity is revealed to the viewers) and Coon vs. Coon & Friends. Deaths Kenny McCormick is best known in the show for his recurring death in nearly every episode of the first five seasons, often followed by some variant of "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" and "You bastards!" from his friends Stan and Kyle, respectively. The gag has many precedents, going back at least as far as the regular cry, "You rotten swine! You've deaded me!" by Bluebottle voiced by Peter Sellers in "The Goon Show" in 1951. In the first few episodes, Kyle said the entire phrase. Later on, it varied, depending on who killed Kenny. Kenny has died and come back over 103 times in the South Park franchise (83 in the series, to date, two in the early animated shorts, six in other authorized TV parodies, six times in the video game, and twice in the movie). He is also killed nine different ways in the opening sequence. Kenny’s most recent death was in season 14 episode, "Coon vs. Coon and Friends" when Kenny disquised as Mysterion shoots himself in the head to go to bed. Kenny died in almost all the episodes until the writers killed him off permanently in the fifth season, in "Kenny Dies", but he returned at the end of the next season's finale, "Red Sleigh Down", remarking that he's "just been over there" (pointing off screen). By the sixth season, Matt and Trey got rid of the practice of killing him in every episode; they got tired of the joke. The reason why Kenny died continuously was given in an interview with Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who stated vaguely that it was because Kenny is poor. Kenny is always resurrected for the next episode, although the explanations for his reappearance varied. In "Cartman Joins NAMBLA", it is explained that his soul returns to his mother, takes to another body, is reborn, and then grows to be 8 or 9 years old in record time (and somehow retaining physical appearance and memories), while another simply had Kenny magically reappearing out of thin air in the second part of the two-part episode "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" after he was run over by a train in the first. The most recent explanation comes from the episode "Mysterion Rises", in which Kenny himself reveals he is unable to stay dead and always wakes up in bed the next day, while nobody else remembers his death. However, in the next episode, "Coon vs. Coon and Friends", it is confirmed that, while he may wake up in his bed everyday, it is indeed his mother that gives birth to him everytime. Kenny's "immortality" may be connected with the Cult of Cthulhu, as Carol mutters under her breath, "I knew we should have never gone to those cult meetings." None of the other characters seem to find this at all unusual. Stan merely greeted Kenny when he materialized, and no one else even blinked. Kenny himself is aware of the fact that he is constantly killed, expressing resentment over the fact that Stan was worried about Kyle's impending death while never mourning Kenny, and opting to take home economics classes over wood shop partly because he was afraid of getting killed by the dangerous power tools in the shop class, and cheering after realizing he had survived the episode "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo". In his will in the episode "Best Friends Forever", Kenny says "In the highly likely event of my death..." In the episode "Mysterion Rises", he says to Hindsight "Nobody even remembers me dying. I go to school the next day, and everyone is just like, "Oh, hey Kenny." Even if they had seen me get decapitated with their own eyes." This would suggest that Kenny is fully aware of his deaths, but nobody else is. In "Mysterion Rises" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends". Kenny points out that nobody can remember his deaths. He even shoots himself in the head after a desprate plea to his friends to try and remember this time, but they don't. Other characters occasionally seem to be vaguely aware of Kenny's deaths. In "Cartmanland", Kenny dies in Cartman's theme park, and when the lawyers suing him mention "that boy who died," Cartman replies with, "Who, Kenny? He dies all the time." It would seem that the others are also aware of Kenny's deaths, but are quite nonchalant about them since they know he will re-appear. Stan and Kyle say their "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" lines like they don't care in the episode "Gnomes", in which the gnomes accidentally crush Kenny, and mourn over this tragedy, but are confused as to why the kids don't seem to care. In "Chef Goes Nanners", Kenny eats antacid tablets, thinking they're mints, and drinks some water afterwards. When Kenny explodes, the four boys and Kyle's dad laugh and applaud, and Stan even says, "That was a good one." And in "4th grade" Kenny dies on a wheeled sled and Stan says "Well who didn't see that coming." In other episodes, however, Kenny's death is sometimes taken more seriously for plot purposes, especially in "Kenny Dies" where it is considered a major dramatic event in the boys' lives. In "City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks)" Stan at one point reacts incredulously to the idea Kenny could have ever died more than once, and Cartman agrees that it "wouldn't make sense." Kenny survives a few episodes in the first five seasons: * "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo". * "City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks)", which takes place entirely within Stan's dream. Kenny only dies within the dream (and a false flashback that Cartman has in the dream). * "Rainforest Schmainforest", when he is struck by lightning and then revived with CPR by his new girlfriend Kelly. * The "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?"/"Probably" two-parter, when he is run over by a bus in Part 1 and presumed dead. When the bus stops in Mexico in Part 2, he is scraped from underneath the bus by a Mexican man and found to still be alive, this being an error due to the fact his body was left behind after the bus hit him in Part 1. * "Fat Camp", in which a kid from drug rehab who had previously been posing as Cartman is forced by Stan and Kyle to dress in Kenny's orange parka and climb into Ms. Crabtree's uterus as part of a television stunt. His dead body is later squeezed out, followed by the corpse of another kid resembling Harry Potter. Kenny was serving jail-time in New York after performing a sex act on Howard Stern for ten bucks during his live radio show at the time. * In the fifth season episode "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow", Earth Day activists hack all of Kenny's limbs off, but he is not shown to die at any point in the episode. * "Cripple Fight" - the hawk takes him, but he is seen in scouts later. * "Starvin' Marvin in Space" He is shown frozen in carbonite near the end of the episode. In the Star Wars movies, Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and is then revived to normal later on, since the freezing process is (usually) not fatal. This means that if South Park follows the Star Wars canon, Kenny could potentially be restored, although no such thing is done or talked about. In addition to escaping death in a few episodes, Kenny does not appear in the episodes "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus", "Cat Orgy", "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", and "Pip" and therefore does not die in any of these episodes. However Cat Orgy and Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub are all part of the same night as "Jewbilee", so technically he did die during those episodes. Kenny has died only rarely during seasons 7 through 14. Some "deaths" are not actual instances of Kenny dying, but are still accompanied by Stan and Kyle's remarks, such as when Kenny's character was killed in "Make Love, Not Warcraft". The most he has died since season 7 was over the superhero arc - he dies once in "Mysterion Rises" and a further three times in "Coon vs. Coon & Friends". The episode "Cripple Fight" suggests that Kenny's deaths are caused by his parka. When Timmy gives Jimmy a nearly identical parka, a series of unfortunate and fatal events repeatedly happen behind him (meaning they all miss him); a voice can even vaguely be heard screaming, "There's Kenny! Kill him!", but Jimmy does not even notice. On the other hand, in some episodes, Kenny dies without the parka, such as "The Jeffersons" when Mr. Jefferson tosses him up through the ceiling (thinking it was his son) and killing him. Kenny seems to know about the catchphrase said after he dies ("Oh my god, they killed Kenny!"), as evidenced in Season 1 when he says the catchphrase himself (except with Mephesto having been shot, rather than himself), with Kyle replying "You Bastards!". In "Prehistoric Ice Man", Kenny calls Cartman a bastard after Stan says "Great job, Cartman, you killed Kyle." On a third occasion, Kenny used the catchphrase when Cartman is badly injured, but Stan points out that Cartman isn't dead. In Mysterion Rises, Kenny reveals that he has a superpower - he cannot die. He reveals this to Captain Hindsight, saying that he sometimes "Sees a bright light", "Heaven", or "Hell". He also states that the worst part is that nobody remembers, even if they see him die. He considers this a curse, and tries to convince the others that it is true in "Coon vs. Coon & Friends". Nobody believes him though, and when it turns out that Bradley also had a power, he silently admits defeat and shoots himself in front of everyone. He is reborn instantenously inside his mother's womb, who immediately deposits the new born baby in his bed, and he ages instantly into a 9 year old before morning. Before the events of "Coon vs. Coon & Friends" there was a theory that every time Kenny was killed, he was actually reborn into a different dimension explaining why, apart from only a few incidents, no one could remember when he died. Kenny's line in the theme song Kenny's lines in the first and second seasons are: I like girls with big fat titties; I like girls with deep vaginas. *In season 3, this changed to: I have got a ten inch penis; use your mouth if you want to clean it * In season seven, this changed to: Someday I'll be old enough to stick my dick up Britney's butt. * In season ten part two, the theme was revamped and Kenny's lines were: I like fucking silly bitches; I know that my penis likes it. Background and family Kenny's family is one of the poorest families in South Park. Because Kenny's family is so poor, they eat frozen waffles with no side dishes for dinner and bread sandwiches for breakfast. In "Starvin' Marvin", Kenny won a can of green beans for his family, though they could not afford a can opener. In "Sexual Healing", Kenny's family ate microwave pizza. Cartman frequently exploits Kenny’s poverty by offering him money for performing strange or dangerous tasks. In "The List", Cartman frequently mentions that his family eats Pop-Tarts for dinner. This is actually proven at the end of the episode; Kenny and his family are all seen eating Pop-Tarts before a stray bullet kills Kenny at the dinner table. In "Best Friends Forever" it is shown that all of Kenny's possessions are kept in a small cardboard box. Though his family is extremely poor, his parents are known drug addicts and heavy drinkers. They drink so much that only a fairly large income would pay for it, which might explain the degree of poverty. Despite his family’s poverty, Kenny always manages to stay current with trends in toys and video games, such as maintaining a World of Warcraft subscription (and a computer to play it on), being the first kid in South Park to get a PSP, or being able to buy Chinpokomon dolls as well being the only child in the town to have a Go Go Action Bronco, a battery-powered miniature car. Kenny might have gotten these items from the odd jobs and dares from his friends and neighbors since his parents spend all their money on drugs and alcohol and use what ever is left over on food. Stuart McCormick He is Kenny's alcoholic father. He is usually seen hanging out with the other men in South Park and sometimes arguing with -or beating- his wife. Stuart is an alcoholic, which is the most likely reason behind his family's poverty. Carol McCormick She is Kenny's young mother. She is said to have had Kenny when she was only 16 years old which would imply that she had Kevin when she was 13 or 14 years old. In "Cartman Joins NAMBLA", it is shown that after Kenny dies, his soul returns to her, takes to another body, and is reborn. Kevin McCormick He is Kenny's older brother. He is very untidy in appearance. He hasn't had very many speaking lines, but when he does speak, he seems to repeat much of what he says. His voice sounds similar to those of Terrance Mephisto, Bill, and Fosse, but he must get the accent from his mom. He's seen with a few band aids on his face. Karen McCormick See "Best Friends Forever" for details She is Kenny's reclusive younger sister. She first appeared in "Best Friends Forever", when she and the rest of the McCormicks visited Kenny in the hospital. She has had no speaking lines, and her name has not yet been given, although Matt Stone has called her "Karen". Grandfather See "Fat Camp" for details He didn't have any speaking lines either, but he appeared in "Fat Camp", when Kenny, as a stunt on the 'Krazy Kenny Show', gave him a full-body massage on live television. Friends and Relationships (Best) Friendship with Andrew Andrew is considered to be one of Kenny's Best friends ever. In "Double Under Danger", Andrew and Kenny are shown to get along great with eachother. The work great together as a team. In "Super Fun Time", Kenny is paired up with Andrew, which pissed off Cartman because he was stuck with Butters. In "Jason Marks The Day", Kenny resurrects Andrew after he was killed by the fictional serial killer, Jason Voorhees. Ironically, Kenny lives right next door to Andrew. According to Andrew, him and Kenny hang out everyday after school and all day on Saturdays. In "The Ugly Truth", Kenny was the only one who knew Andrew was originally from England until Cartman finds out and kicks him out of the group saying "We already have to deal with a Jersey, I don't wanna have to deal with a damn Brit too. Kenny stands up for Andrew and Cartman gets kicked out of the group (until the next episode). Kenny made Andrew Co-Leader of Coon and Friends and had the Coon and Friends meeting at his house. Friendship/Conflict with Eric Cartman Cartman generally seems to tolerate Kenny, although he regards him as being lesser than him because he is poor, and can even at times be seen to treat Kenny as sort of a general laborer/servant, he is also very abusive, both physically and verbally. Cartman does appear to consider Kenny as his best friend out of the other three boys, although he is not above exaggerating the depth of their friendship in order to achieve or obtain something he wants, usually after Kenny dies or is incapacitated, such as in the episode "Best Friends Forever". In the same episode, Kenny described his general attitude toward his friendship with Cartman as his feeling sorry for him, because everyone else hates him. However, it is also shown that the two share a "best friends forever" necklace (hence the title of the episode). However it is implied that Cartman managed to sneak the necklace onto Kenny's neck in order to prove to everyone that he and Kenny were indeed best friends. In the episode "Kenny Dies", Kenny agrees with Cartman's assessment that the two are best friends, as Kyle and Stan are. However, this is refuted in the episode "Best Friends Forever," in which Kenny had written in his will that Stan and Kyle were his best friends and he never really liked Eric Cartman. All things considered, their "best" friendship seems to end as of "The Death of Eric Cartman". Kenny will go along with Cartman if he talks about something he agrees on (such as the time he giggled uncontrollably when Cartman farted in Kyle's face in "Canceled"), or Kyle and Stan if he gets really annoyed by Cartman's attitude. Although muffled, Kenny has often called Cartman by his first name "Eric", such as in "Probably", when he calls Cartman on the phone from Mexico and later when Jesus sends Cartman to Mexico as punishment. On occasion, he is known to punch Cartman when Cartman rips on him for being poor, and Cartman has been shown beating up Kenny when Kenny refuses to go along with his ideas. (particular in the early seasons). In fact, in "Cartmanland", Kenny was invited to go to Cartman's theme park, when Kyle and Stan couldn't come (although Kyle and Stan had tried to break in while Cartman had it closed off). Cartman has shown to get angry and defensive after Kenny has died, while Stan and Kyle take it like it's nothing and have sometimes used it to get what they want (such as asking for ice cream with butterscotch in "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut"). He also seemed to be aware of Kenny dying in "Cartmanland", but in "Mysterion Rises" Kenny said nobody noticed. Kenny has also been known to detest or mock Cartman on occasion, such as when Cartman degraded NASCAR fans by crashing a stolen car into a lake in Poor and Stupid - Kenny stormed down to Cartman's house to yell at him (nearly destroying the door in the process) - he was even prepared to kill Cartman in defense of NASCAR's reputation. He also laughed when Kyle and Stan abandoned Cartman for cheating at a war game when he yelled "I can play with myself all day!" in "Clubhouses". In "Jackovasaurus", Kenny got mad at Cartman again when he started claiming he hated Kenny. He then tried to distract Cartman by pretending to be a new species of antelope (so that the Jackovasauruses could be smuggled to France), but instead got mauled by a bear. It should be noted that although his voice is muffled, Kenny can be heard using Cartman's first name, "Eric", on occasion (such as in "Probably"), making him the only one out of Cartman's primary three friends to do so. However, in "Chickenlover" and more recent episodes, Kenny called Cartman by his surname when Cartman was at his house. It should also be noted that Kenny's alternate identity, Mysterion, and Eric's, the Coon, appear to have a rivalry (mostly because Mysterion doesn't let the Coon push him around). This can be seen in the episodes "The Coon", "Coon 2: Hindsight", "Mysterion Rises" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends". In particular, Mysterion kept the group name "Coon and Friends" after Cartman was kicked out because it pissed Cartman off beyond belief, and he found it "extremely funny". Friendship with Stan Marsh Although Kenny and Stan don't seem to share the same bond that Stan and Kyle do, Stan does seem to think of Kenny as a close friend. In "Kenny Dies", out of the 3 boys, Stan has the hardest time dealing with Kenny dying, and can't even bare to see him in the hospital. When Stan finally realizes that Kenny passed on "for good", he feels like he's Kenny's worst friend (until they hear about Cartman's selfishness). The two boys often hang out with one another when Cartman and Kyle get into their arguments and Stan and Kenny don't want to listen to it, such as in "The Passion of the Jew". In "Best Friends Forever", Stan and Kyle fight against Cartman to not have Kenny's feeding tube removed to save Kenny's life. However, in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", when all hope seems lost to save Kyle and Stan breaks down crying in front of Kenny because of Kyle's impending death, he doesn't seem to care or even acknowledge the fact that Kenny dies all the time. This angers Kenny and makes him leave Stan to go home - which in turn causes his death by walking under a falling piano, and even then Stan still fails to notice or care. During the first 5 seasons, Stan would merely say, "Oh my god, they killed Kenny!", after one of Kenny's classic deaths, and then he wouldn't acknowledge him again after that. Friendship with Kyle Broflovski Kenny and Kyle's relationship doesn't seem to be as strong as it is with the other boys. Kyle doesn't seem to really even notice Kenny a lot of the time. There is even a time in the episode "Chickenpox" when Kyle says that Kenny isn't his friend (this could be to get out of going to his house). Though along with Stan, Kyle's shown his definite concern for Kenny and does view him as a very close friend. In "Best Friends Forever", Kenny gives all of his belongings (excluding his PSP) to Stan and Kyle, and Stan and Kyle fight very hard to save their friend from Cartman and his supporters. He also invites Kenny to his birthday party in "Casa Bonita". Kenny often sides with Kyle on many issues, even over Cartman, like in "Douche and Turd", where Kenny supports Kyle's mascot instead of Cartman's. Also in "Jewbilee" Kyle asked Kenny to come to Jew scouts so it would be fun. Despite the neglect, Kenny has been shown to bear feelings of friendship towards Kyle, even to the point of trying to convince him of his own power as Mysterion to the point of shooting himself in front of him and Stan, much to their surprise and his later dismay when neither of them remember. In the first five seasons and sporadically afterward, whenever Kenny dies, Kyle follows with "You bastards!" after Stan yells, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" Friendship with Butters Stotch After the episode "Kenny Dies" and after Kenny's comeback in Season 6 ending, he seems to have less of a major role (until season 11), sharing with Butters. The episode "Kenny Dies", where Butters drew a picture of him and Kenny (as best friends) together in an airplane in which Kyle delivered to Kenny at the hospital, indicates that Butters sees Kenny as a really close friend. Kenny played the "good cop" and comforted Butters in "Lil' Crime Stoppers", and Butters tried to help Kenny during "Major Boobage". The two were also playing together in a sandbox in the episode "Eek, A Penis!". Butters took Kenny's place when Kenny died, possibly hinting that Butters deeply missed Kenny (instead of simply wanting to hang out with the other boys). In "Guitar Queer-o", Kenny and Butters can be seen hugging when Stan and Kyle break 1,000,000 points on Guitar Hero. Also, in "The Ring", Butters seemed quite alarmed when he discovered Kenny had a new "whore" girlfriend. Kenny can also be seen shaking Butters' hand after kissing Sally in "Butters' Bottom Bitch" Relationship with Kelly Kenny briefly had a girlfriend named Kelly in "Rainforest Schmainforest" (she was first to admit her feelings for him), who came to his aid during one of his famous "death" scenes. In the next episode, "Spontaneous Combustion", he spends a lot of time at a new girlfriend's house but the viewer never sees her. Because Kenny had started dating Kelly in the previous episode, it is safe to assume that they are one and the same. Kelly hasn't been heard of since (although she was seen at the dance in "Hooked on Monkey Phonics", possibly having arranged to meet up with Kenny, but not being able to as he is dead at that point). If you look closely, you can actually see parts of Kenny's parka with Kelly at the dance. Relationship with Tammy Warner In the episode "The Ring", Kenny gets a new girlfriend, the fifth grader Tammy Warner. She happens to be the only person in the school poorer than Kenny. Classmates at school call her a slut because she gave a boy named Dave Darskey a BJ in the parking lot of TGI Fridays. Kenny finds out later in the episode that she did this because she got worked up watching the Jonas Brothers. This prompts Kenny to go and buy her Jonas Brothers tickets, hoping it is the way into her heart, and her vagina. After the concert, Tammy is called backstage where she is given a purity ring by the Jonas Brothers themselves, which stops her from doing anything 'naughty'. Eventually, due to boredom, they take off the purity rings and Tammy gives Kenny a BJ. Unfortunately it is this act that kills Kenny in the end - in the last few minutes it shows his funeral scene, in which the Vicar is heard to say: "And so, as we commit this young child to the earth, let us all be reminded that syphilis is still a deadly disease, and it can be caught even if using protection." Friendship with Craig Tucker Even though Kenny usually rivals against Craig and his friends along with Stan, Kyle and Cartman, they all seem to still get along with him for the most part when the two groups aren't in disagreement. They can all been seen playing and working together in episodes like "Free Willzyx" and "Guitar Queer-o". Craig even allowed Kenny to join him in making his "Animals Close-Up With a Wide-Angle Lens" video when Cartman wouldn't let Kenny join their report team in "Quest for Ratings". This is explained by the fact that Kenny is hooded all the time - being a news reporter, he would have had to show his face and have a really nice hairstyle. The given reason, though, is that Cartman thinks Kenny doesn't watch the news because he's poor. However, in episodes like "Pandemic 2: The Startling", Kenny has shown dislike for Craig by saying that he doesn't like him, though it could have merely been out of frustration that Craig refused help them again. Friendship with Millie In the episode "The Biggest Douche in the Universe", Rob Schneider was possessed by Kenny, after eating a meat loaf that Kenny was inside. Then, during a commercial for a Rob Schneider movie coming out, he was seen trying to kiss Millie which may conclude that Kenny had a crush on her. Also in the episode Something You Can Do with Your Finger, Kenny chose Millie to rub and hug him for their music video. Hero Despite these problems, Kenny is often portrayed as the hero of the group; indeed, many of his deaths have been acts of heroic self-sacrifice. Among others, he fixed the Hell's Pass Hospital backup generator by using himself to connect two wires (resulting in electrocution), and he once smashed a shell with his head to release Moses from captivity inside the shell (smashing his head in too). Arguably the most touching of these deaths was in South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut, when he wishes for everything to be back to normal despite that he would knowingly go to hell in the process (he instead almost immediately ascended to Heaven, where he was gifted with a Halo, wings, and thirty or so busty, naked women. Apparently one saving the earth from eternal damnation causes God to overlook one not being a Mormon.) His ascension also marked the first, and to date only time his entire face has been seen (in other instances he has some form of cover, such as a baseball cap or a snorkel mask) and the first time his voice could be heard clearly. In "Best Friends Forever", Kenny used the Golden PSP to defeat the hellbourne army of Satan. The most shining example of his heroism, however, is his role as Mysterion, a hero who defends the town from evil forces including Professor Chaos and the Coon. First appearing in "The Coon" with an unclear identity and returning in "Coon 2: Hindsight" Mysterion is shown to be a resourceful and intelligent hero with a strong sense of morals and justice - however his identity remained unknown until "Mysterion Rises" during which Mysterion opens the episode with a monologue mentioning having a power - Mysterion is later revealed to have been Kenny the entire time, and his super power being his inability to die. It is at this point that Kenny begins taking upon the role of reluctant hero; though his loyal characteristics and sense of morality are strong, his increasing frustration becomes apparent when he confronts his friends for not remembering his many deaths. He spends most of "Coon vs. Coon & Friends" trying to come to terms with his powers, and at the end he begs Cthulhu to bring back the other Coon Friends making the ultimate sacrifice by offering himself up, noting "only an immortal can kill another immortal", meaning if Cthulhu killed Mysterion, he would not be reborn. Talents Weaponry Kenny is shown to be good with weapons. In "Volcano", he blows up the fish in the lake and shoots a ram down. He also shows skill with a shuriken in "Good Times With Weapons". Kenny is shown in "Towelie" to be able to do a backflip when they sneak into the "military base", while climbing the fence. He was able to obtain a sniper rifle in "Poor and Stupid", but it got confiscated by a security guard. He also seems to carry around a gun with him, as seen in "Coon vs. Coon and Friends", in which he kills himself twice using it during the course of that episode. However, he may only use this while he is Mysterion. Music Kenny has a very good opera voice (after taking lessons), as seen in "Quintuplets 2000". He uses this talent to travel to Romania where he sings for money. He is also a proficient drummer as seen in "Christian Rock Hard" and "The Red Badge of Gayness" and plays violin as seen in "Summer Sucks." He can also sing and dance at the same time, extremely evident in "Rainforest Schmainforest", "Something You Can Do With Your Finger" and "Elementary School Musical". Also in "The Red Badge of Gayness," it is shown that he can play the flute as well. He, along with the rest of the fourth grade (third grade at the time), is shown to have much talent with the recorder as seen in "World Wide Recorder Concert". Gaming Kenny is shown to have a large mastery of strategic video gaming in "Best Friends Forever", reaching Level 60 in the Game "Heaven vs. Hell", and was known by the angels as the Heaven's equivalent of Keanu Reeves (Neo or Constantine). In "Make Love, Not Warcraft" he is a human hunter in the game World of Warcraft (a race/class combination not actually possible in the game until the release of the ''Cataclysm ''expansion four years after the episode). In "Towelie", he plays the 2001 Okama Gamesphere with the other boys until his death, at which time Towelie takes his place. In the "Chinpokomon" episode, he suffers a non-fatal seizure while playing a game about bombing Pearl Harbor. Also in "Whale Whores" he plays the drums in Rock Band, playing the song "Pokerface" by Lady Gaga, with Kyle on the guitar and Cartman on the vocals. Fighting Kenny has fought on a few occasions. He also holds the ability to perform his "Spin Blossom Nut Squash" on command, as seen in "The Return of Chef" . He is also able to throw shurikens correctly, as demonstrated by hitting Butters directly in the eye with one in "Good Times with Weapons". He occasionally gets into physical confrontations with Cartman due to Cartman's abusive nature (especially in early seasons). While Cartman overpowered him by sitting on him and farting in "Clubhouses", Kenny was able to easily beat him when he tried to stop Stan and Kyle from entering the Wall-Mart with a dagger. It is also shown in many other episodes he has rather good accuracy with long range objects. In The Coon, he is easily able to hold off Professor Chaos and General Disarray singlehandedly, although in both his encounter with Cartman and his encounter with Professor Chaos, his main strategy seemed to consist of simply slapping his opponent until they gave up. It also worthy to note that both Cartman and Butters have repeatedly been shown to be physically weak. Acting Kenny dressed up as a pregnant underage girl to get morning-after abortion pills (though the only thing he wore was a long, blond wig) in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA". He dressed up and posed as Michael Jackson's son in "The Jeffersons" as Blanket. He also acted in the episode "W.T.F" as a wrestler. He was also part of the South Park Elementary school Christmas play in "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo". Sports He played football in the season one episode "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", was part of the dodgeball team in the season two episode "Conjoined Fetus Lady", and played Center Field on the baseball team in the season nine episode "The Losing Edge". In "The Losing Edge" and "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", the number on the back of his shirt is the number 13, a joke on how Kenny is unlucky due to being in poverty and dying all the time. In "Conjoined Fetus Lady", his number is 69, a reference to his perverted sense of humor. Kenny can also play tetherball, but ended up getting strangled by it in "Mecha-Streisand". In "Poor and Stupid" Kenny is shown to love NASCAR. Computer Skills In "Christian Rock Hard" he teaches Stan and Kyle how to download music for free off the Internet. He also helped along in "Make Love, Not Warcraft". In the "The Ungroundable", Kenny was seen playing Call of Duty: World at War with all of the other children. He also had a laptop from One Laptop per Child in "You have 0 Friends". Vigilantism In "Coon 2: Hindsight" he is included in the group of Coon and Friends. In "Mysterion Rises", it is confirmed that Kenny is Mysterion. His secret power is that he is unable to die. He remarks on how many times he dies but saying that he just ends up waking up in his bed, alive, and that no one reacts to his death. He views his "power" as a curse. However, Cartman once stated that he dies all the time in Cartmanland, which indicates that Cartman is the only know character in South Park to remember seeing Kenny get killed many times, or it could be a canon error. Clone'd Kenny McCormick was cloned in 2011, his clone is called Kenny B (or Kenny Batchelor), he gave it to Andrew for a Best Friend Day gift. Category:Characters Category:5th Grader